On Naked Go

dantrell: I have a good argument that not even AGA can fault. You see being naked is related to Go. Because when you first start (30 kyu) you are just like a new born child. You are so full of life. You do crazy things, you give the older people headaches trying to figure you out. But then you are exposed to foreign ideas and they begin to change you. Sure you climb up the ranks but you become tainted with things like fear. What happened to the "free" you? This is the secret path to becoming the strongest. Throw off your clothes. Play naked Go. Be free again. :)
cynewulf: you so crazy
dantrell: Watching naked men for you might be nice but then you'd never be able to defeat them. Can you imagine someone sitting opposite to you, naked, making his moves with utter confidence not even caring about the stares?
dantrell: That man has acheived supreme strength.NannyOgg: yes, would happily lose my games to stare at him ^^FlameBlade: mmmm....FlameBlade: then I would happily watch female kiseiNannyOgg: :)FlameBlade: meanwhile Nanny would enjoy watching male Honinbo
dantrell: I'd be busy trying to win my clothes back.NannyOgg: don't bother, dan
dantrell: You didn't let me finish.
dantrell: I was going to say, "And end up losing my car in the process."
dantrell: Then I'd have to walk back home.
dantrell: Naked. ( ._.)FlameBlade: reconnect with natureFlameBlade: goodNannyOgg: yes, healthyNannyOgg: go for it!
dantrell: That's the theory. To become strong, you have to reconnect with nature. I could have said that in the first place but this was more soothing. :P

Go Blog

Watch the Weekly Slaughter

Weekly game Edison vs NannyOgg! Come watch us in the arena (KGS: Room List -> Lessons -> LGD) This game will be played every Thursday at 5am GMT. Feel free to add any observations about these games to this page. And yes, I am aware that this hadn't been quite weekly, real life was interfering. Should be weekly from now (Aug 4) on though.

March 13, 2006, The Very First Game Watch how the game gets decided by who makes the least mistakes! W+12.5 making it 1-0 for Edison!

Aug 4, 2006 A Comedy of Errors. Nanny started out with a big mistake (scary enough to wake up screaming in the middle of the night), so Edison was a gentleman and made his share of mistakes. (W+Res) Nanny is closing the gap, 4-3.

About me

A long time ago, in a tiny toy store in the Netherlands, I found my very first go set. Very cheap and crappy, but still, it was a go board. Cardboard, plastic stones, but it did get me hooked. I bought it, and taught myself how to play. Since there was a lack of go players in my community, I taught go to all my friends and family members, none of whom were really interested in the game. I could beat them all easily, so I thought I was pretty darn good at go.

Until I went to college. And met a real go player. Suddenly it dawned on me that there was a lot more to this game than I had realized. And just playing my first game with him showed me very clearly that I had no clue what I was doing.

Spent a few years playing on and off, but never very fanatically. There were so many other things going on in my life. Life got even busier and go fell by the wayside. Got married, had a bunch of kids, and played once a year if that often. Till I discovered the on line go servers.

A whole new world opened for me. I was extremely happy to find out that there are people there to play go at any time of the day or night. Amazing! Wonderful! I set up my first KGS account in Dec. 2004, and started playing seriously in January 2005. I think I was around 19k or so back then, if that strong. I made my first dragon account in January. I have enjoyed playing on both of those servers.

After playing and studying a lot, I now am 3k AGA strength, so there has been some improvement. I still have no clue what I am doing though. My current goal is to reach shodan as soon as possible. And then the real fun will start :-) I have a go blog at http://www.shodan-challenge.blogspot.com.

I am part of DragonSensei on Dragon go server. I have learned a lot by being part of the team, and figuring out and explaining good moves in those games.

My Study Plan

My study plan mainly consists of playing at least one serious game a day, and 20 l/d problems (at the moment working on Korean Problem Academy). I always review my games, and I like to study pro games. I have memorized the first 50 - 150 moves of a bunch of them. I find it hard to memorize the yose in pro games, and at some point I decided that the added value of doing that, was not worth the added effort right now.

I read lots of go books, and take any reviews any one is willing to give me. Of course, in return, I am always happy to help review games for weaker players, or give a teaching game.

My official go teacher on KGS is sendol. He is an excellent teacher, he has gotten me a lot stronger. I really like his teaching style. He knows so many joseki and has incredible reading depth. I recently have been taking some lessons with minue, he has taught me a lot too. His teaching style is very different from sendol, I learn different things from each one.

I also have been blessed with a lot of unofficial teachers on KGS, I have found people there always helpful and willing to explain things. Special thanks to Kipawa, jwaytogo, tetris, allfather, shygost, Nathan, firebolt, nachtrabe, UTDEspy, FlameBlade, bloodyrose, pux, and many, many others.

My Club

I play at the Upper Valley Go Club. It is a small club, but very enthousiastic players. I love playing on a real board, there just is something about the feel of the board, and the sound of the stones, which you don't get when playing on line.

Nanny Ogg Quotes

Wyrd Sisters

Nanny Ogg ... lived in a new, knick-knack cottage in the middle of Lancre town itself and at the heart of her own private empire. Various daughters and daughters-in-law came in to cook and clean on a sort of rota. Every flat surface was stuffed with ornaments brought back by far-travelling members of the family. Sons and grandsons kept the logpile stacked, the roof shingled, the chimney swept; the drinks cupboard was always full, the pouch by her rocking chair always stuffed with tobacco. Above the hearth was a huge pokerwork sign saying "Mother". No tyrant in the whole history of the world had ever achieved a domination so complete.

Nanny Ogg ... was enthusiastically downing her third drink and, Granny thought sourly, was well along that path which would probably end up with her usual dancing on the table, showing her petticoats and singing "The Hedgehog Can Never be Buggered at All".

"What're we going to give him, then?" said Nanny.
"We was just discussing it," said Granny.
"I know what he'll want," said Nanny. She made a suggestion, which was received in frozen silence.
"I don't see what use that would be," said Magrat, eventually. "Wouldn't it be rather uncomfortable?"
"He'll thank us when he grows up, you mark my words," said Nanny.
-- Magical gifts that the Grimm Brothers never considered
(yes, it is what you think it is)

The water under the lid was inky black and, according to rumour, bottomless; the Ogg grandchildren were encouraged to believe that monsters from the dawn of time dwelt in its depths, since Nanny believed that a bit of thrilling and pointless terror was an essential ingredient of the magic of childhood.
In summer she used it as a beer cooler.

Magrat: "...what about this rule about not meddling?"
Nanny Ogg: "Ah. The thing is, as you progress in the Craft, you'll learn there is another rule. Esme's obeyed it all her life."
Magrat: "And what's that?"
Nanny Ogg: "When you break rules, break 'em good and hard."

Witches Abroad

"And I don't hold with all this giving things funny names so people don't know what they're eating," said Granny, determined to explore the drawbacks of international cookery to the full. "I like stuff that tells you plain what it is, like ... well ... Bubble and Squeak, or ... or..."
"Spotted Dick," said Nanny absently.

Nanny Ogg, one of life's great optimists, stepped out to take whatever the future had to offer.
Preferably with rum and bananas in it.

Maskerade

Nanny Ogg went to bed early. After all, she was an old lady. Sometimes she went to bed as early as 6 a.m.

"Gytha, is there anything in the whole world you can't make sound grubby?"
"Not found it yet, Esme," said Nanny brightly.

Distillation of alcohol was illegal in Lancre. On the other hand, King Verence had long ago given up any idea of stopping a witch doing something she wanted to do, so merely required Nanny Ogg to keep her still somewhere it wasn't obvious. She thoroughly approved of the prohibition, since this gave her an unchallenged market for her own product, known wherever men fell backwards into a ditch as "suicider."

Nanny's philosophy of life was to do what seemed like a good idea at the time, and do it as hard as possible. It had never let her down.

It was central to Nanny Ogg's soul that she never considered herself an old woman, while of course availing herself of every advantage that other people's perception of her as such would bring.